Reimagining Justice: Exploring Texas Innovations in Mental Health

This episode features Laura Elmore LeBlanc, Chief Executive Officer of the Sobering Center. Founded in 2018, The Sobering Center provides a safe, compassionate alternative to jail or the emergency room for individuals experiencing intoxication, serving more than 14,000 people while evolving into a national model for innovative, community-based substance use care that connects individuals to treatm...

This episode features Mary-Ellen King, who worked with the Austin Bar Association to pilot the Crisis Assistance Program (CAP). The Crisis Assistance Program (CAP) connects attorneys facing short-term health crises with volunteer lawyers who can temporarily manage their cases, ensuring clients are still taken care of while the attorney recovers. If you have an innovation in mental health that you&...

This episode features JCMH Partners Dr. Lynda Frost and Doug Smith as they break down Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) Mapping Workshops and the collaborative role they play alongside the Texas Judicial Commission on Mental Health and local communities. A SIM Mapping Workshop brings community members together to look at what services are available, where there are gaps, and what changes are needed...

In this episode, we are joined by Rosie Medina, the El Paso County Juvenile Probation Department Chief Juvenile Probation Officer, Stephen Ingle, the Co-Founder and Creative Director of Creative Kids Art, and Andres Garcia, the El Paso County Juvenile Probation Department Detention Unit Manager. They tell us about Project TAP (Transformative Art Program), an initiative based at El Paso Juvenile Pr...

CONTENT WARNING: In this discussion about how to address juror trauma, a graphic case is given as an example involving late term abortions performed by a physician and the resulting murder trial, including a verbal description of crime scene photographs from time stamp 5:55 to 7:00. Listener discretion is advised. In this episode, we are joined by Patrick Martin, the Philadelphia Jury Commissioner...

In this special New Year's episode, we are joined by Jessica Chevrier, a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist Associate at The Relationship Center of El Paso. She talks about workplace wellness, and how we can prevent systemic issues like burnout with practical, scalable interventions that promote sustainable wellbeing. If you have an innovation in mental health that you'd like to see...

In this episode, we are joined by Sommer Alexander, a Justice-Involved Reentry Peer Support Specialist with Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, and Angie Tyler, a Certified Family Partner with Integral Care. They tell us about the crucial role peers play in the justice system and how they bring a unique perspective to cases. If you have an innovation in mental health that you'd like to see on the p...

In this episode, we are joined by Jerri Clark, the Resource and Advocacy Manager at Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC). She highlights the essential role family care partners play when someone with a severe mental illness encounters the legal system. Clark dedicates her work to the memory of her son, Calvin, who died from suicide at 23 after a four-year struggle with a severe mental illness that was...

In this episode, we are joined by Eric Epley, the Executive Director & CEO of the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council ( STRAC ) and Kellie Burnam, STRAC's Southwest Texas Crisis Collaborative Division Director. They tell us about the Law Enforcement Navigation program, which navigates patients who are placed into emergency detention by law enforcement for their acute psychiatric need...

In this episode, we are joined by two guests from the Heart of Texas Behavioral Health Network. Kelli Guerrero is the Director of Child and Adolescent Crisis Programming, and Jessica Jimenez is the Youth Crisis Outreach Team (YCOT) Program Manager. They tell us about the Heart of Texas Behavioral Health Network's YCOT, which provides 24/7 trauma-informed assessments and evaluations in the comm...

In this episode, we are joined by Jonathan Lemuel, the Director of Forensic Services at Bluebonnet Trails Community Services. He tells us about BBTCS's Outpatient Competency Restoration program, which helps defendants who are found incompetent to stand trial achieve the ability to participate in their own defense in a community-based setting. If you have an innovation in mental health that you...

In this episode, we are joined by Hon. Oscar Kazen, the Presiding Judge of Bexar County Probate Court 1. He tells us about his AOT Court, which provides outpatient treatment under civil court order to individuals with severe mental illness. Judge Kazen's court was the first fully operational civil AOT court in Texas. AOT resources mentioned in this episode can be found on the JCMH website unde...

In this episode, we are joined by Anne Jackson, a Bell County prosecutor and founding member of the Bell County Autism Intervention Team, and Tres Jackson, Anne's adult son with autism and an Autism Ambassador. They tell us the Bell County Autism Intervention Team (BAIT), a group made up of family members, professionals, and individuals on the Autism Spectrum (ASD) themselves who work to train fir...

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Connie Almeida, the Director of the Fort Bend County Behavioral Health Services Department. She tells us about Always Parenting, a second chance program that assists individuals currently incarcerated (or have been in the last 6 months) at the Fort Bend County Jail and have minor children. If you have an innovation in mental health that you'd like to see o...

In this episode, we are joined by Jim Bethke, Executive Director of the Bexar Counsel Managed Assigned Counsel Office , and Katy Jo Muncie, Deputy Director and Director of Defense Services and Outreach at the Capital Area Private Defender Service in Travis County. They tell us about the Managed Assigned Counsel model, which is the assignment of qualified attorneys to represent criminally-accused i...

In this episode, we are joined by a record-breaking five guests! Our guests include Grayson County Court Liaison Elizabeth Groves, Judge James Henderson, and Judge Larry Phillips, and Denton County Court Liaison Alessia Dal Monte and Judge Chance Oliver. They tell us about the JCMH-grant funded Court Liaison Pilot Program. The goal of the pilot is to minimize waitlist times by creating a court sta...

In this episode, we are joined by Keisha Morris, the Chief SIM Officer at the Andrews Center Behavioral Healthcare System. She tells us about her unique position, which was created to ensure Smith County followed up on the priorities identified by stakeholders during the JCMH-led SIM Mapping in 2022. If you have an innovation in mental health that you'd like to see on the podcast, email JCMH@t...

In this episode, we are joined by Capt. Sarah Bigham, the Chief of Staff for the Grayson County Sheriff's Office, and Amberlee Conley, the Chief Operations Officer at Texoma Community Center. They tell us about the implementation of jail-based competency restoration program in Grayson County, which provides competency restoration services in a designated space in a jail separate from general p...

In this episode, we are joined by Yvonne Mboss, a Clinical Case Manager Supervisor, and Jennifer Sowinski, a Clinical Operations Manager, of the Downtown Austin Community Court. They tell us about DACC, a problem-solving court established in 1999, and its different programs. The mission of DACC is to empower people to thrive by providing impartial justice and compassionate community-based services...

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains discussion suicide and mentions child sexual assault. Some listeners may want to skip this episode and catch up with us for the next one. In this episode, we are joined by Dustin Schellenger, the State Director for the Texas Law Enforcement Peer Network. He tells us about the TLEPN, a state-wide program designed to give every Texas Law Enforcement Officer acc...

In this episode, we are joined by Melissa True (Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute), Jessica Knudsen (Clarity Child Guidance Center), and Brian Jaklich (Harlandale ISD). They tell us about the San Antonio Mobile Mental Wellness Collaborative, an upstream collaboration of nonprofits focusing on behavioral health prevention so public schools do not have to focus fully on intervention. If you hav...

In this episode, we are joined by Wesley Patton, the Blanco County Emergency Services Department Community Paramedic Captain. He tells us about the Community Paramedic Program, a unique program in Blanco County that dispatches paramedics to deescalate mental health crisis calls when necessary. If you have an innovation in mental health that you'd like to see on the podcast, email JCMH@txcourts...

In this episode, we are joined by Daniela Chisolm, an Assistant El Paso County Attorney & Senior Trial Attorney in the Mental Health Litigation Unit, and Dr. Patricia Ortiz, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso. This innovative program is a collaboration between TTUHSC El Paso and the El Paso County Attorney's Office...

In this episode, we are joined by Judge Matt Hand, the Potter County Court #2 Presiding Judge, and Josh Crawford, the Director of Panhandle Regional Specialty Courts. The Panhandle Regional Problem Solving Court is a unique mental health court because it can pull participants from more than 20 counties in Texas. If you have an innovation in mental health that you'd like to see on the podcast,...

In this episode, we are joined by Devon Anderson, the Justice Forward President and CEO. Justice Forward is a nonprofit that funds essential programs for individuals in the Specialty Courts of Harris, Galveston, and Fort Bend Counties to help them become independent and productive members of our community. If you have an innovation in mental health that you'd like to see on the podcast, email...